Snow and Fire Redux
by Kamzil118
Summary: After Artyom had killed the Dark Ones, he discovers a strange device that sends him into the world of Remnant - where finds himself in the company of colorful characters and deceitful villains. In his desire to return home, the stalker is once again on an adventure he never asked for in a world that is not his. As dark forces rise, a past decision haunts him on his journey.
1. Chapter 1

Underneath the Kremlin, a young man found himself alone in the bunker-complex of his ancestors - the legendary D6. He was part of a six-man team to find the command center and use it to direct the great pre-war weapons to fight a race of powerful mutants that killed his people. After he witnessed their destruction, the lonely scavenger could not stop pondering why he was not celebrating. Was it the men who sacrificed their lives just to get him to this point? It had to be. Too many people died just for one man. A more optimistic person would see their sacrifices as a good deed to preserve the the remains of humanity, but the stalker felt responsible that if he was not there the people who died for him would live.

Footsteps echoed outside of the assembly area, it was not hard to guess who was coming since there were so few survivors of the team. The arrival was an older man who simply smoked when he had the opportunity and this was one of those times. "Artyom, thanks for guarding the door. I'm sure Vladimir would appreciate it if none of those _things_ slipped through."

He nodded his head back to the veteran among his company. "You're welcome." Came Artyom's answer. "Though you are a sight for sore eyes. I'm just too exhausted to be on sentry duty." The stalker was not wrong. Ever since he had departed from his home station at the request of his good friend, there were few moments where he could simply close his eyes and sleep away in the darkness. After considering the amount of time spent traveling and fighting made him realize he had been awake for roughly a week. It might have been longer, but time was quite hard to discern in the darkness of the tunnels.

"Polis is going to receive the colonel and they're going to fix him up after what that demon did to him." There was momentary pause as he took out the lit cigarette away from his lips. "I heard that you and Miller met with several of the Rangers at Ostankino. What happened up there?"

Artyom merely leaned his back, only to rest against the concrete wall. "A lot. Just after we met them, the storm was driving the mutants and got ourselves surrounded. Then the demons came and wrecked the buggy."

"I see." The Ranger replied.

"Uhlman, you don't hold that against me? I got them killed."

"No you didn't." He grabbed him on the shoulder. "It's just how life works. When bad shit happens, what really matters is moving on." He shook his head in disbelief. "None of this is your fault. I know Pavel could have survived, but we both know that beasts can't tell the difference."

When the Polis Ranger was finished, there was a moment of silence between the two men. Artyom slowly closed his droopy eyes. Sleep was all he wanted after the events that had transpired. "If that is the case, I can rest easy knowing that." The tension that his body contained had begun to relax in this single moment.

"Rest easy, the Order is sending some soldiers to secure this place. If you smell something burning, the flamethrowers are busy cleaning house."

For the first time, the stalker felt comfortable in Uhlman's words. No more running, no more searching, no more fighting for once. As he slept, the time since he fell into slumber had become meaningless in this moment of respite. Yet, there was a matter in his mind as felt a strange presence intrude into his thoughts. What was supposed to be a quick and easy rest from his actions had resulted in something different entirely.

He found himself back in his comfortable station - Exhibition. It was not as clean as the people who lived within Hansa's ring of influence, but such a place was his home. The people of this station fulfilled their simple lives with daily shores, often ignoring the fighting the occurred on the frontlines. Many people did not care for the mutated eldritch horrors that waited outside their doorsteps, but Artyom knew better than to ignore the crying of families as his step-father came to their houses to tell them the news. This was a morbid life he lived when his people fought their war of survival against the Dark Ones.

As he continued to stroll through the station's streets, Artyom could not help, but notice the lack of the station's soldiers around. Could it be that Sukhoi had doubled the sentry-duty hours? Then this wonderful sight of returning home had changed. The small greetings of citizens saying hello to the station commander's stepson was gone. Their expressions were filled with horror as gunfire and screams grabbed their attention.

On the opposite side of the street was two strong pre-war doors. Originally, they were supposed to be the station's main doors, but as the population continued to grow, Sukhoi expanded the defenses even further - going so far as to turn these doors into the secondary defenses.

The unarmed were quick to run away from these blast doors as several of the gate guards had stepped out to unlock them. As one of the guards pulled the door's lever down, the gates grinded open as a bright light lit through the opening. Several shadows were laid upon the safe zone of the station, but Artyom could see the backs of several former marines in heavy armor. "Quick, get inside! Warn everyone!" The squad commander shouted as he pulled his comrades into safety.

Had it been any other mutant, these men would have done fine. However, these creatures were not simple beasts, but an unnatural force that only he had witnessed at the top of Ostankino tower. The young man ran towards the blast doors and shouted to the top of his lungs. "That's too much, close it!"

What had occurred was the most terrifying scene Artyom had witnessed. All the soldiers who were defending the secondary gate were dropping their weapons. Some shook their heads, others dropped to their knees. The Dark Ones had already gotten through. They screamed in agony and cried out in horror as several tall and dark figures had materialized out of thin air - their hands holding out towards their victims. One man was even terrified enough that he grabbed his weapon and turned it on his fellow man.

While they had turned normal people into a sobbing mess, they all turned their full attention towards him. Eyes were full of hatred as they walked towards him in a menacing fashion. "You… killed us… why?"

Artyom was speechless. Despite all of his best efforts, the Dark Ones still had enough power to fight back - even after death. Did they even need the answer? They came to his home station and attacked his people. What right did their kind have to demand anything? His memories of all the people who were admitted into the hospital were enough for him to carry justification. Then he remembered his first day when he left Exhibition. That simple memory of seeing Hunter confront these creatures only gave him more reason to kill these creatures once and for all. How could he see the goodness in their hearts with all the bodies they left in their wake.

The entire station began to glow red all around - save for the few dark corners. As he looked down, his boots were in a sea of blood as decaying bodies of hundreds had floated. Yet, Artyom was stricken with fear that he could not move as these corpses came towards him and grabbed at every inch of his body. The Dark Ones continued to echo a voice into his thoughts with this very phrase on repeat.. "He must suffer…" Several hands reached out to him, trying to drag him down, but as he moved away from their grasp, his feet sunk into the ground.

Fear was all had left, trying to pry the bodies off his own. However, all of his efforts were all for not as the corpses climbed atop one another to simply drown him into a pool of blood. The weight of the dead continued to force him deep into the red waters.

If fate was on his side, then it came at the right moment. "Artyom, wake up! Hey, I said wake up." The dream ended when he could hear Uhlman's voice awakening him from his rest. "I gave you enough time to get some beauty sleep, now get up."

The young man immediately opened his eyes, only to see the command center much livelier than before. "How long have I been out?" It was a good question. Although time was meaningless in dreams and thoughts, it did matter when real time was involved.

"Eight hours. It is a surprise to find someone who sleep through all of that racket. Hell, someone could fire a gun in here and you could call it a bunk-bed."

Artyom groaned at his companion's poor act he was setting up. "Another one of these puns? Look, I just got up. The least that you could do is not put me in a poor mood."

"I'm sorry to say, but I can't help it." Uhlman replied. "Everyone has their own way of coping with the Metro."

"You are definitely correct in this regard. What do you need me to do?"

"Since the Order locked everything down in the lower levels of the bunker, we're going to do some exploring. I think you would be in the mood to try it out."

"And find more piles of goo?" He shook his head at the idea. After his experience with the biomass at the reactor, the stalker not motivated to find another pre-war location that should have remained locked away for good reason. "Consider me out."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Orders from the high-ranks. Given that you discovered this place alongside Vladimir and the colonel, you've been promoted."

Artyom was very much confused by the news. "What? Why would they ever want to do that? I know I want to become a Polis Ranger, but doesn't that take time to get in."

"Sleeping beauty, you just discovered a place that was considered a legend by most of the staff. After the decision the Council made against your station, your Ranger status is an apology and a thank you note in one package." Came his explanation.

"I see. Will I get a break?"

"Definitely. Since I'm kinda your partner caught in this mess, you deserve a three-week break before you're back in action." What a relief. His efforts alongside the Order had paid off and now the Council had recognized the kind of threat they disregarded. A Dark One body would be enough evidence to support the kind of horrors his home station was up against.

A loud metal vibration began to echo throughout the bunker-complex as dozens of soldiers were now caught by surprise at the loud noise. Yet, the bestial cry that demanded their attention had resulted with soldiers grabbing their gear and wearing their helmets. "Shit, it sounds like it's a floor below. Ladna, let's go."

The young man rose up from his crates and grabbed his assault rifle hanging from his shoulder. "I don't like this one bit."

"That's a good gut feeling you have. You would make an excellent fortune teller." As the duo made their way to the elevators on the edges of the level, Uhlman chuckled at the thought. "A terrible joker who uses puns and a stalker who has a good sense of things around him. That sounds like a perfect combination for a story."

"Don't press your luck. It's highly unlikely."

"Ha, you see!"

When the two men waited in the elevator with several other soldiers, Artyom could see their impatience at the strange situation that occurred. The closer the elevator arrived into the correct level, dozens of men gathered their military equipment and directed their weapons in the general direction of two large steel doors. It didn't help that there was a loud crash that howled on the other side. Heavily armored soldiers took positions in the first row while everyone else gathered behind them - trying to slip their barrels around just to prepare an enfilade of gunfire on the other side.

"What's going on?" Uhlman asked as the elevator door opened.

A Ranger who was about to join the others had shrugged his shoulders. "We don't know. Several squads were about to search this level until something starting knocking on those doors."

Then a commanding voice had alerted them. "Everyone get ready, we're opening the doors!"

"Let's go people!"

Artyom and Uhlman was quick to join the ranks those present had begun to witness what was to unfold. One of the men stepped forward on the right side of the wall and pressed a button. As he held the button, the two great doors had slid apart from their dormant state. There was nothing left, but a pair of two bloodshot eyes slowly approaching them. When the creature revealed it's black wolf-like appearance, it growled towards them.

"Open fire!" Someone shouted.

Dirty bullets or not, the creature found itself trapped in gunfire. Ammo conservation meant little when the question for life or death was involved. Due to the sheer amount of firepower that was presented in one place, the black wolf was stumbling backwards and onto its hind legs. Each strike had earned a ruthless reply with a dozen more rounds. When the weapons had finally ran dry, the creature fell back and crashed onto the ground - leaving nothing, but the prepared Polis Rangers that killed it.

Upon closer inspection, the creature's corpse began to dissolve into nothing. There was no mutant that could pull off something like that. "What just happened?" Artyom wondered.

Then Uhlman was quick to speak his mind. "I don't know, but that is not normal."

The firing line was broken apart as Russian soldiers turned on their flashlights within the dark confines of the room. Artyom followed after them as he raised his Kalash and slowly swept the entire area. As they continued to explore the room, there was a blue light on the other end of the room emanating from a black ball of energy. Caution filled the room as the soldiers stayed away from the strange sight, but Artyom became the first to approach the anomaly. "Is that where the beast came from?" He wondered.

Strange as this event was, what made it worse was the screaming of a woman echoing from that black ball of energy. "Somebody, help me!"

Any sensible stalker would have remained cautious of this situation, but the young man could not resist the call for help. Ever since he witnessed the fall of an entire station on his quest to save his own, he would not ignore such cries. People deserved a chance to live. He continued to creep forward towards the strange black ball, wondering if he could do anything. As his fingertips reached out for the anomaly, he heard Uhlman call his name.

* * *

To say that he was surprised would be an understatement. The young man found himself flying into the ground with his face landing into the dirt. Had it been anything else, he would have earned a concussion or death. While he was busy pushing himself off the ground, Artyom could hear the sounds of chaos. Screams and gunfire had brought his attention as he swiped the dirt from his face. He was on the surface without a gas mask, but the biggest anomaly for him was the location he stood in.

An entire town was in complete disarray. Complete strangers ran to find shelter as odd monsters clad in black were busy fighting those who fired their weapons at them. Some even found themselves descending upon the defenders - who occasionally had a melee weapon in hand. Meanwhile, the unarmed civilians ran for their lives and retreated into the nearest buildings. Upon closer inspection, Artyom could see that not all of the civilians were "human". In fact several of them had animal features that he once saw in a picture book at a time when it did matter.

He remained speechless where he was - standing in a square while the various wolf-like monsters enveloped the small squads that tried to form their defensive positions. Then a growl was emanating from behind his back as he heard a creature approach him. When he turned around, the stalker found himself confronted by one of the wolf-like creatures that managed to find him where he was. It snapped its mouth after him while the young man slowly reached for his Kalashnikov.

The creature lept towards him as Artyom immediately brought the barrel beside his hip and pulled the trigger. With the scrap-made bullets clashing into the beast's hide, the weight of the monster had crashed atop of him as the stalker landed on his back with his assault rifle hanging from his person. Then it began to triumph in its attack as it stood upon its hind legs and yelled to the sky. Artyom took the opportunity to slip his makeshift automatic shotgun from his back and unleashed a hailstorm of incendiary buckshot into the black wolf. A fire swept into the monster before it noticed the resistance of it's victim. When the shotgun was empty of it's shells, the beast enjoyed the opportunity to bring down the killing blow upon him. Yet, the Shambler was made for such a moment and it's bayonet had certainly gave it utility.

After the bayonet was embedded into it's throat, Artyom quickly slipped a shell into the chamber of his shotgun and pulled the trigger. A moment later, the monster was no more when it's dark form had dissipate from existence. With that first kill, he looked around to find that the defenders had been killed or fleeing to find shelter with the civilians. As strange as this place was, the people here needed defenders.

When he got up from the ground, the stalker reloaded his shotgun in the open, hoping that the beasts wouldn't be so inclined to jump him in greater numbers. However, Artyom found himself shocked even further when there was a loud, booming vehicle over his head with its bright lights shining over the ground. He was in awe to find a working aircraft in such dire times, but it was better to ask such a question after this fight against monsters. Then more aircraft arrived to the town's defense and upon arrival, they fired large guns underneath their cockpit seats. "What did I get myself into?" The young man questioned.

His eyes noticed the back of the vehicles opening their large doors before strange metallic silhouettes stepped out and landed on their feet. Their friendly-blue lights did little to comfort Artyom as they started to fire their weapons upon the monsters that infested the town. Such support had caught his attention as he charged forth to join them in a firing line. On the other side of the square, he noticed that the creatures were pouring through a single road - where he stumbled upon the remains of the strangers.

Artyom slipped his shotgun onto his back as he grabbed his assault rifle slinging from his shoulders. When he found himself in the company of automatons, he raised his weapon and held the trigger. Then one of the machines had turned its 'head' towards him and spoke with a mechanical tone. "Hold your fire, friendly specialist inbound." It warned. The fact that it was warning him to stop shooting had puzzled him, but his attention fell upon the street when a white blur descended to the ground effortlessly.

Upon closer inspection, the young man saw a woman with white hair rise from her kneeling position. Her blue-white uniform was unlike any Artyom had seen in the Metro, but based on the fact that she landed on the ground with ease he was curious. When she turned around, he was enthralled by this stranger's appearance before she spoke in a firm military tone he was familiar with when he was in the company of Colonel Miller. "Civilian! You are coming with me."

* * *

Author's Note: It took me awhile to get this rewrite in order.

In case people are wondering what this fic is about, I am rewriting a series of fics that put me into a corner I couldn't get out of. Given the assortment of problems of fixing that plot, I am better off restarting from a clean slate. It is better that way as I can sweep my attempt of sticking to the canon plot of Metro 2033 game into the trash.

Now to address where this fanfic is set, it is after Metro 2033's bad ending and somewhat before RWBY's first volume.


	2. Chapter 2

A woman stood behind a wall of glass to observe the stranger in the black uniform. He couldn't see her, but she could see him. She observed every little detail about him as he looked at his hands in deep thought. Ever since the ship's commander had discovered the abnormal energy signatures on their scanners, Specialist Schnee took the opportunity to bring this person into Atlesian hands for the time being.

Winter turned her head to the right to find the observer doors slide open with her superior entering the room. "Specialist Schnee, what did you learn from this man?"

The woman saluted him and remained tall in his presence. "Nothing sir. He has remained silent ever since he boarded the ship."

"The report you sent told me that he was willing to cooperate."

"Indeed, but he seems more afraid to talk based on the analysis of his facial expressions." The specialist commented.

"Intriguing." Ironwood reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll, revealing the new treasure trove of information. "For someone who equips himself with a strange assortment of weaponry, it's not an attitude I would expect from someone that heavily armed."

Recent memory of his disarmament had returned into her mind. When she had observed the man willingly hand over his weapons to the personnel, Winter was immediately reminded by his sudden reaction she tried to pry a book off of his person. What that book entailed did deserve to be brought to light. "General, he did seem to act possessive when I tried to take a book away from him."

"Did we remove it from him?" He wondered.

"No sir, I didn't want to risk an incident on board this ship."

Then he nodded his head in an approving manner. "Good, he might know a thing or two about those strange energy readings we found in that village. Hopefully, he could explain what it was. Let's have a talk with him, shall we?"

Winter followed her superior as they both stepped out of the observation room and walked through the hallway into the interrogation room. As the general walked through the door, she could see the young man's tired eyes look at them with curiosity with his gaze watching every move they made.

After General Ironwood took a seat across from the stranger, the specialist stood behind him with pride. Then she watched the conversation play out with the general making a gesture towards himself. "How about we introduce ourselves? My name is James Ironwood - I am the general of the Atlesian Military." He quickly glanced over his shoulder. "The woman behind me is Specialist Schnee. What is your name?"

There was a momentary silence at the table with eyes staring at one another. However, the general's gesture was enough to invite the stranger in the grey-camouflage uniform to speak. "Name… is… Artyom. I am… citizen… of underground home… called Metro." She could recognize a few of the coherent words when he spoke as if he was not proficient with the common language. "It's… nice… meet you."

"Artyom, I have questions," Ironwood began. "Although your home does raise some red flags, my people on this ship have been discovering strange energy readings across this place. However, you seem to have caught our attention, because by the time you arrived in that town the scale was higher than ever."

"Don't know… might be… anomaly."

James raised his eyebrows. "What are these anomalies?"

"Hard… explain..." The young man answered. "Unknown… phenomenon… This case… strange tech… fellow soldiers discover… accident… here…"

"Wait a minute? Are you telling me there was some experiment going on in this place? What are you not telling us?"

"I… tell… everything… Discovered… just now…" Artyom answered.

"So you really don't know what's causing these… anomalies in this area, do you?"

He spoke in a strange tongue, but he shook his head.

"It appears there is more to Vale than I expected."

The ship shook with the lighting flickering. The intercom was activated with a desperate cry for danger. "All hands on deck, man your battle stations! The White Fang have penetrated our armor - prepare for boarders!" The woman shouted to the top of her lungs.

Artyom looked around in fright. "What… happening…"

"We are under attack." General Ironwood answered. Then he glanced towards Winter. "Specialist Schnee, get him his weapons and assist against the White Fang as soon as possible."

She saluted him. "Yes, sir." Then her attention was turned on the stranger. "Follow me, Artyom."

* * *

The white-haired soldier had stared at him as he went for his belongings and quickly put them together. This situation that he found himself in had made him afraid and rightfully so. This place was so foreign from the usual sights he would expect from his home. Where were the mutants? Why was the surface air so clean? Who were these people? All these questions made him wonder about the life he led, but until the danger had subsided then maybe he could try to understand what was going on. The last thing he needed to get was his Shambler on the weapon rack and once he was finished, Artyom proceeded to approach her.

When she understood his belongings were in order, she walked out of the armory and he followed. "Whatever happens, stay behind me. Both of us will live longer if you do what I say. Do you understand?"

"Da." The Russian acknowledged in his mother's tongue as he followed the woman through this entire place. It was odd how he could understand their English so clearly, but that was probably thanks to the non-Russian merchants who used to teach him when they came to Exhibition. Sadly, Artyom doubted they would ever return to his home station after the terrible events that plagued it. Maybe they will return in the future - if they don't get attacked by bandits along the way.

His thoughts were interrupted when the hallway was filled with an explosion. As the debris cleared, several figures were coming in from the left side of the broken wall. Without hesitation, Specialist Schnee pulled out her blade and lunged forward. People shouted as gunfire echoed from the attackers, but he could see the blood get spilled across the entire hallway before they had time to counter her.

When everything was clear, the young woman was covered in blood as Artyom cautiously moved towards her with his makeshift shotgun in hand. Despite her efforts, there was still one person who hid from her and had taken the opportunity to step out from a corner with his weapon drawn. In a split-second, the Polis Ranger raised his shotgun and pulled the trigger with a hope it wouldn't hit her.

He watched as his shotgun shell was ejected from his weapon and the hostile man was full of pellets.

Specialist Schnee turned around to see the man in the white mask fall to the ground before returning her full attention towards him. "You're a good shot. Let's see if the others need our help."

A simple nod was all he could do in response before they continued to trek through the strange place he was at. Then he looked out the windows to see that this was not a place, but a ship. Everything about it felt wrong and somehow he had to find a way to get back to the Metro and tell the colonel about this.

Another explosion shook the ship as the announcer spoke up once more. "Stabilizer-Level has been disabled! Embrace for impact - we're going down!"

At that moment, Artyom noticed his body in the air as the specialist reached for the nearest bar handle. "Hold on to something, we're going to crash!"

He slipped his weapon over his shoulder as she reached out to grab him from the air. Then the young woman brought him close, but that was the last time he saw something before everything became black.

* * *

It almost felt like an eternity in his slumber, but everything changed when he opened his eyes and smelled smoke in the air. Something hot was nearby, but he couldn't tell what it was. When he gasped for air, he felt his lungs choke before he coughed violently - waking him up from his coma. Artyom held his breath as he reached for his gas mask, which was surprisingly undamaged during the crash. A moment of joy fell over him as he took off his helmet and slipped the straps over his head.

After he equipped his helmet back on, the young man looked around to see only fires in the hallway that were darkened by the black smoke. Then he activated his flashlight and was able to see that the system lighting was not present.

A whimpering cough caught his attention as he looked down to find the specialist on the ground. "Chyort!" He swore to himself as he grabbed her off the ground and did his best to getting caught in the black smoke. He slowly searched for a way out, but his unfamiliarity with the place had merely hurt his chances of getting her out alive. Then he recalled about that breach earlier and without a moment of hesitation he rushed forward and dragged her out from the crash. The opening was there and there was a chance that he could get her out of this situation.

By the time, he looked down to see a small drop from the opening, but took the risk to carry the woman in his arms and land on his feet. When he landed, the specialist's breathing seemed easier due to the quality of clean air present.

"I hope there are other survivors." Artyom quietly said to himself before gunfire chased after him from the right.

Using the wreckage as cover, the Russian dragged her over behind a broken piece of the ship and established it as a defensive position. Then he reached out for his Kalashnikov and slung it off his shoulder before he slowly looked around the corner to see several more of those people with the white masks on their faces. Their weapons were raised before they stepped forward with their words clear to him. "Alright human, step out from there so we may kill you."

Just who were these people? A creaking noise caught his attention when he saw a crate hanging by a small wire above his assailants.

"He's not making everything easier for us, open fire!" Gunfire peppered his cover as he aimed towards the wire and fired off a single shot. Like he had expected, the crate crashed atop of the hostiles as the survivors tried to push it off their comrades.

"Shit, get it off of him!" A woman cried out.

Artyom lowered his armored helmet's visor over his eyes and stepped out from cover with his finger on the trigger. Several people took notice of his counterattack, but they were cut down with clear precision of his accuracy. However, four people remained as he was forced to take cover behind a fallen machine.

More gunfire raced after him as he looked around the corner of his eye to see a large man with a machine gun-like weapon in his arms. The volume of fire increased as he reached for a grenade on his bandolier and his bullet lighter. In another time and another place, he would have been afraid to do that, but his actions on the frontlines between the Reds and the Nazis had given him enough experience in combat than what most people would have done in this situation.

When he lit the fuse with his lighter, Artyom immediately threw it behind their backs until someone noticed his explosive. "Grenade, take cover!"

An explosion erupted with dirt kicking up from the ground as he pushed forward with his assault rifle at the ready, but he noticed that there were three bodies present in the aftermath of the explosion. Where was the fourth person?

A crack behind him was needed to determine the last person's location.

Artyom jumped forward and turned around to see a woman with a sword in her hand. She charged him as he pulled the trigger in that particular moment. A burst of gunfire echoed from the chamber before she was riddled in bullets, destroying her strength to move or carry her weapon. Instead, she stumbled backward and onto the ground with her mask flying off. Her ghostly eyes haunted her as she quietly stared at the Russian who killed her.

There was a pang in his heart that something else could have been done, but what it was already done. He focused his attention elsewhere as he walked away from his victims.

When he returned to where Specialist Schnee was, Artyom found her sitting up against the broken ship piece and breathe easily. Then she turned her head. "Thank you, Artyom. I would have died to smoke inhalation."

He nodded his head before he slowly took off his headgear and slipped the gas mask back to his side. "Find others… safer that way…"

"I heard from the gunfire." She replied. "We have to check for survivors and get out of here as soon as possible."

"Why?" He wondered.

The specialist looked at him. "You don't know what a Grimm is? You should know."

"Mutant?"

"You must be really been living under a rock not to know what they are." She shook her head. "We'll talk about this later, but first we need to find as many people as possible and leave. The Grimm will flock to the crash site and we'll be in this for the worst."

A voice called out from behind their cover. "Hey, anybody out there? General Ironwood says to rendezvous at the cargo hold of the ship. We'll be waiting for help until then."

Specialist Schnee struggled to get up before Artyom reached his hand out to her. There was a pause before she grabbed his hand and pulled herself off the ground. Then they slowly walked out to find an Atlesian soldier with his gear. "Mind helping us along the way?"

"Winter? Shit, it's good that you're alive. The general has been asking for you ever since we crashed." He answered. "I'll get a buggy and save you the time."

* * *

General Ironwood hated having his attire in ruins, but it was a luxury he could afford later on. As he looked around, the civilians who were attacked by the Grimm earlier were quick to assist his troops after the crash. He had to give them something in return at some point. Meanwhile, he looked to the supplies to find out that if they conserved they would have enough for three months if he didn't have to deal with the hungry mouths to feed or the trigger-happy fools.

Then he noticed two familiar faces and found his adjutant back into the fold. "General Ironwood, sir." The specialist saluted him before he returned the military gesture.

"At ease, Schnee. It's good that you got our VIP in safe hands. He still brings a lot of questions more than answers. I hope he wasn't too much trouble protecting."

She looked over her shoulder to see the Russsian before glancing back at her superior. "No, sir. He seems quite capable of defending himself despite me being incapacitated."

"Really?" His head turned towards him. "I'm quite surprised given the reputation of the White Fang."

Artyom groaned as he dropped to the ground.

"What's wrong?" He asked as the general and specialist helped him up.

"I sense… anomaly… nearby… Bring me to it…" He said.

"You can sense anomalies?" The general asked with a degree of skepticism.

"Complicated… tell you after… possibly dangerous… see… myself…"

A soldier ran up to him. "Sir, we're seeing a blue light coming to us. What do we do?"

James glanced at the foreigner. "Bring Schnee and this man to the blue. He might know a thing or two about it."

"Yes, sir! "Alright you two, this way."

The two individuals departed from him as they made their way towards the strange sighting of these so-called anomalies. The idea that someone could sense them was strange, but what could be stranger than aura?

* * *

When Artyom was brought to the anomaly, he was surprised to see what he had found. The blue light was not the strange electrical one he had seen, but it looked similar to the one in D6. A black ball of energy was emanating a blue light from its center, enough for him to recognize what it was. He approached it with his hand reaching out towards the black energy.

Winter's voice called to him. "What are you doing?"

He shrugged off her question. "I know what this is. I'm going to test something for a bit."

As his fingertips touched the energy, the blue light flashed before him and a moment later he recognized the dirty walls of D6. A group of Polis Rangers was talking to one another before they turned around to recognize his arrival. Uhlman was among them as he rushed forward to his side. "Artyom! What the hell happened?!"

A small smile was all he could offer. "I don't know how to explain this, but I'm going to need you to come with me. I think I found something worth telling to Colonel Miller."

"You think so?"

He nodded his head.

"Ladna," Uhlman turned his head towards the other rangers. "Get Colonel Miller right now, Artyom might have found something important."

"Okay." One of the rangers acknowledged before jogging away from the room.

"This better be worth the explanation."

The young man approached the black ball again and glanced at the senior Polis Ranger. "You're going to have to touch it. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before."

He reached out and return to the green and lush land of the strange place he found himself in, only to find Winter and an Atlesian soldier surprised by his return. "Artyom, what did you do?"

"I'm testing a possibility." Came his answer. "Also, someone else is coming to join us."

A flash of blue light appeared behind his back and made the foreign soldiers take a step back. "Shit, this is straight from those old Soviet Union films!" Uhlman exclaimed. "Uh, who are these guys?"

* * *

Author's Note: I apologize for the long wait, but restarting from the ground up has its share of issues and writer's block is a pain to deal with. Thankfully, an old Metro/RWBY not on this site has managed to inspire me.

* * *

 **Aren serathy** : Indeed.

 **Guest** : I know.

 **GunRunners** : No. I've considered this idea before, but there are some issues which I see as problematic and I hate having to handwave these issues in the first place.

 **Malgrath** : Thanks.

 **Guest** : It's not against the site rules, but it should be looked down upon. If said story has a section where song lyrics interrupt the flow of the story, it's usually bad. Now I have seen a fic on the forums of SpaceBattles where the author does a good job integrating the lyrics into the story without ruining the enjoyment of readers thanks to some neat features.

 **Guest** : Yes, the story is not acting too different. However, the previous story's inception was based on a bad idea I drummed up. This iteration is far better.

 **anonymous412** : Thanks.

 **Deadly Instinct** : The problem with the original plot is that I tried to have the crossover's plot be based around stations of canon and it just doesn't work. By the time I started on the sequel, it kinda ruins the story than help it. So I decided to rework the crossover to be original, but retain a unique side of the crossover. Thankfully, I decided there was some hope to salvage it and I truly apologize if you were waiting this long for an update, but my Metro/Frozen and Metro/Fallout crossovers took higher priority.

Regarding the questions, I'm still getting the plot together to be better than the previous iteration and some of the issues you asked will be addressed in-chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

General Ironwood was accompanied by the village survivors, his soldiers, and the remains of his crew. When they entered the strange portal-like entity, he was surprised to find a band of soldiers clad in black armor standing before him. Two heavily-armed squads on their flanks before two doors slide open with a band of soldiers walking behind what appeared to be their commanding officer. "Greetings, I am General James Ironwood of the Atlesian Military. I'm sure you have heard of us."

The suspected commander stepped forward to shake hands with the general. "My name is Colonel Sviatoslav Konstantinovich Mel'nikov, but you can call me Colonel Miller for short. Now I know you might take offense to this, but I haven't heard of your military."

James' specialist took a step forward. "You have to be living under a rock not to know about the number one military power in the world."

"Who are you exactly?" He asked.

She was quick to answer. "I am Specialist Schnee."

"Ah, the woman Artyom rescued from the crash." Apparently, he knew who that soldier was. "Well, the reason for our ignorance is that while we may be living in a military bunker-complex underneath a major capital city, none of us have ever heard of a place called Atlas or seen a shattered moon before."

A general surprise came from everyone throughout the room. "You haven't seen a shattered moon before? It has been there ever since Remnant was created."

"Remnant." He seemed interested in that name. "That's a strange name for a world when we call ours, Earth. I guess Artyom didn't lose his mind after that small disappearance."

"That can't be. Surely you have evidence to prove this."

Miller nodded his head. "I do, but we can show you after we settle your people in until rescue arrives." He glanced at the civilians behind the general. "If the civilians start leaving this room, there will be an American who will help you to your quarters until we finally get some all-clear signal from the Atlesian military."

There was some relief from the civilians as they started walking past the armed soldiers with everything that they brought with them. Some tried to converse with strangers, but couldn't establish a proper conversation while children annoyed them and provoked smiles from the silent soldiers. "Thank you for allowing these civilians inside. I'm sure they would appreciate it."

"We're Polis Rangers, it's our duty to protect people. If not us, then who."

"Before we hold a proper conversation with any further matters, I want to establish that I am sorry for interrogating one of your men when we brought him into our ship." General Ironwood stated. "I hope your people won't hold that against us."

"Since you are being so honest to the Order, I definitely won't. What did Artyom say to you?"

"Something about a machine that brought him here and your people." He answered.

"You believed him?"

"In my line of work, you need to discern those who make emergency calls to be comfortable and those who have genuine emergencies worth millions."

The colonel smiled. "Honesty is one of his better qualities."

"By my standards, he would make a terrible soldier if he was willing to compromise important information so easily."

"That's because I just recruited him not long after he spent the past eight days fighting monsters, bandits, and had escaped execution from the Nazis. To simply state that he is exhausted would be an understatement for the poor kid. Once I break him into the ranks, he should better with informational security than he is right now."

"Where is he now?" Specialist Schnee wondered.

"He's currently sleeping, but Artyom certainly needs that after what he's been through. His rest takes more precedence and we need to check whether his mind is alright."

James raised an eyebrow upon the subject. What did the stranger undergo long before they met?

* * *

News of a crashed Atlesian warship had reached Professor Ozpin in his tower. General Ironwood - one of his companions - was on that very ship when it crashed. Thankfully, the Vale Council and the Atlesian Military were working with one another to search for survivors in the wild. In a way, Ozpin was worried James as he played an essential role for the future to come and that he commanded one of the most powerful militaries throughout all of Remnant. However, he had every reason to be worried. The reason why he was there was the reports of strange lights appearing in the wildlands of Vale and the possibility of a great enemy taking out an important man out of the headmaster's equations.

Without the general's presence, there was so much he could do with the Atlesian military to deal with the greatest threat to Remnant since the beginning of time. So many secrets he had told that man and he had the resources to assist him in his endeavors. Though bringing small military expeditions to Vale was problematic in its own right. Faunus rights activist relations with Atlesian personnel tended to be poor compared to the other kingdoms. Hopefully, the recovery mission by the council will go well.

Behind the quiet man was the sound of an elevator opening as a pair of footsteps came forward to accompany him at the window. A woman spoke her mind as she earned his full attention. "Our recruiters to the combat schools are beginning to show promise with several students worth inducting into the academy. Might make up for the latest developments of licensed huntsmen and huntresses gone missing."

He stole a quick glance from her, reminded of a time when things were different. "Professor Goodwitch, I have received news that James' airship was shot down in the wildlands of Vale."

The blonde teacher showed great concern about the general. "Do you know what happened?"

"I do not know of the specifics, but this is not a coincidence based on Qrow's reports. It appears our enemy wants a friend to disappear or has an interest in the general vicinity where the general went missing." Ozpin answered.

"Did you tell Qrow about it? I'm sure he would love to have an opportunity to rescue him from the crash. Their relationship hasn't been the best as of late."

"You are going to meet up with Qrow at the exact coordinates I've sent to your scroll and find out what happened to General Ironwood. Perhaps we might have something against our enemy and her pieces."

"I've heard rumors of strange lights appearing there. What's that talk all about? Is there a White Fang operation going on around that area?"

"That's why you and Qrow are going - one task to find Ironwood and one task to know what's going on there." The headmaster answered. "I hope this answers your question."

"Well, things are going to be interesting, to say the least."

* * *

Artyom entered the armory after a six-hour rest in his new home. It was relieving to finally get his reward as he slowly loaded his dirty rounds into his assault rifle magazines. Apparently, the strangers in the white uniforms didn't have any knowledge about the state of his world and were curious just how different it was from their own. Not that he complained. After all, he was just as curious about their world as well, but why did they want to wake him up for something so trivial? Couldn't they choose Uhlman or someone else to introduce them to the Metro and the Dead City?

The Atlesian soldiers entered the room as they were greeted by quartermasters; however, he also recognized the woman who he rescued from the crash. She was an interesting person in her own right as he had never seen white hair on a woman with an exception to the elders. The fact she also carried a sword had interested him from the beginning as he loaded his makeshift combat shotgun with the shells.

When he was done, he joined the other Rangers conversing with the newcomers. There was a Polis Ranger in the room who turned out to be an American from before the war. "Okay people, time to establish some things here. The surface is going to be hostile and there are several things you might need." He presented a gas mask and an air filter in hand. "This is the only thing between living another day and choking to death. So I recommend that you keep this in good condition up there. While it's going to be for a short while, you'd be surprised how many new guys get themselves killed cracking the glass."

The white-haired soldier spoke her mind. "Samuel, do we also need to wear those heavy uniforms? Those seem like they would weigh us down."

"Yes, Specialist Schnee, you do have to wear those suits." He answered. "There is more to the surface than toxic air full of chemicals. There is an energy called radiation and a high dosage can get you poisoned - any longer and you're dead. That lead suit is literally the only defense from watching your hair fall out."

Several of the Atlesian soldiers were taken aback by his casual nature.

Samuel wasn't done with his briefing as he presented a small device to the group. "This is a Geiger counter if you hear this ticking that means that radiation is in the air. The more it ticks, the more you should get the hell out. Do I make myself clear?"

"That seems much for going on the surface for five minutes." She commented.

Artyom approached the American and whispered into his ear. "When do we begin?"

"Now." He replied. "Everyone, get your gas masks and your equipment in gear. We're going up top in ten minutes. Stock up on air filters and stay close with Artyom and I. We're at the bottom of the food chain up there."

When the foreigners had begun fitting into their lead suits and gas masks, the duo watched from the sidelines as they held a conversation with each other. "Even though we burned the biomass from the reactor, I'm still not inclined to be up there. It just feels wrong to be at the Kremlin."

Samuel chuckled. "I don't blame you, kid. We've all told each other that the red star above the Kremlin has some strange power to it. I'd hope that it still doesn't have that effect despite the fact that we killed it. Didn't you have that issue when the colonel brought you to the State Library?"

"Yes. I was at a window before we were attacked by a demon. Should have known better than to simply look." Artyom answered as he wore his helmet after putting on his gas mask. "One of the few times, I was left to fend for myself."

"Shit, you killed a librarian. That is something to be proud of."

"I was lucky. My body still aches from the pain."

"Do you need painkillers?"

Artyom shook his head. "No, not at all. If I'm going to be in the Order, my body has to get used to this."

The American patted him on the back. "Don't push yourself too hard. You'll do more than hurt yourself."

One of the Atlesian soldiers stepped forward with their gas mask strapped on. "When do we go?" She asked.

"Soon."

* * *

Specialist Schnee was surprised that she and her team were going through several doors to get to the surface. Yet, the greatest challenge was the toxicity of the air. The moment Sam had alerted her people about it, there was a level of discomfort hidden underneath her mask as she followed the locals through their home. Any damage to her gas mask or a poorly sealed position might get her killed and it was a scary thought to consider that no one with an aura was able to withstand this problem.

After climbing a ladder, her eyes noted the light shining through the building. The ceiling was in complete disrepair with rubble at the center of the room. She looked down to find Artyom and Sam scanning the room as they turned on their flashlights. As her fellow soldiers were getting off the ladder, the specialist recognized that every part of the room was filled with skeletons and corpses - some were trying to reach over for the ladder while the freshly deteriorating bodies were laid upon the walls.

Artyom immediately approached one of the bodies and dug his hand through the pockets. Winter couldn't feel anything, but disgust at how calm he was at looting a corpse and the efficiency of removing the valuables off of the dead. In the meantime, Sam walked past him and slipped the barrel of his weapon through a crack in the door before slowly swinging it open.

Howling winds breezed through the doorway before the specialist heard her Geiger counter tick for a few seconds. "Don't worry that usually happens when the weather is like this." Then he continued on with his boots cracking down on the bones of the fallen.

One of the Atlesian soldiers made a comment on the sheer amount of dead within the building. "I've been to many places on Remnant, but it's so surreal to find this many dead people in one place? Where are we - a tomb?"

"Kremlin," Artyom replied as he rose from the looted body.

"Pardon my Russian's lack of English, but this place used to be a government building before the war." Answered Sam.

"Shit." Another Atlesian soldier replied.

While they moved out of the single room and moved to find an entrance outside of the building, Specialist Schnee could see an occasional desk or partially burnt pictures of foreign soldiers fighting in faraway lands. Broken windows revealed the night sky with only the moonlight to pour in. Their exploration ended as their guides proceeded through a broken wall, only to stand in the open with their weapons down. Both of them talked in their native tongue, but Sam's accent didn't appear to match with Artyom for some odd reason.

Once she approached them, Sam turned around and pointed his finger in the sky. "Artyom tells me your moon is broken. You could now take a look at how our moon is."

She would have found such a statement to be insightful, but Winter took the opportunity to look up at the sky to be dumbfounded by what she had found. It was the most mind-blowing moment to be in, but the specialist couldn't understand just how confused she was at this moment. On Remnant, there had always been a shattered moon looking down on those during those dark hours, but the obvious detail was contradicting her preconceptions. "The moon… it's intact?"

"Take as many pictures as you need, I'm sure you're people are going to need them."

Specialist Schnee pulled out her scroll and started taking pictures of the moon above. However, she also had taken parts of the building's architecture as well. Surely, General Ironwood would need to know about the situation of this place. Yet, she paused her thoughts about her superior and looked around to see the surroundings.

The only comparable place to her current location was Mount Glenn, but even that place was far more 'cleaner' like a fallen city. What she had found was far worse than she imagined. The roads were misshapen by fissures in the ground, vegetation growth was far more prevalent, and the crumbling apartments and buildings left a haunting image in her mind as her eyes scanned every detail. "What had happened here?"

Sam stood beside her with his hands resting upon his weapon. "We can talk about that when we get back inside. Do your people have enough evidence to go around?"

"Depends, we might need to capture more."

"Then tell your people to hurry up, the quicker we get down with this, the better." Came his reply.

"Why are you so impatient on going back?" She asked.

"Remember what I said earlier, we're on the bottom of the food chain around these parts. Mutants and monsters love meals that are in the open."

A screeching cry echoed from above.

"Fuck…" He brought up his rifle before turning his at the skies.

Artyom cried out from behind his gas mask. "Demons! Get down!"

Winter noticed his head scanning at the skies as well, only to follow their actions to see several winged creatures circling around the the group of armed soldiers. Then they swooped down towards their positions, but before she could react, her body was dragged down to the ground as Sam fired upon the beasts. She looked around to see her soldiers drop to the ground as Artyom was lying beside her with his firearm pointing up at the sky. "What do we do?"

"Inside, now!" He answered before pointing back at the building they had just exited.

Taking a quick glance at the sky, one of the monsters was closing in for the kill, right on top of her. One moment later, she drew her sword as small circular glyphs appeared in place for her. "Sam, get the others inside. I'll distract them."

"You heard the lady, let's move!"

She lunged forward as her steps accelerated her up into the skies to be on the same level as the unknown species. These beasts were quick to dive upon her before she jumped into the air and avoided the collision course with one creature. However, she found herself descending upon another thanks to gravity. Winter plunged her sword through its spine before it let out an agonizing cry.

Taking a quick glance at the foreigners and the Atlesian troops, she saw a few break off and descend upon them instead. Clearly, they were intelligent enough to go after the undefended, but she hadn't exhausted much of their options. She jumped off the corpse and elegantly landed her heels upon the broken square as her blade was planted into the stone. Winter's semblance had begun with a circle surrounding her position - revealing her power in the form of doves flying into the demons. Despite their large muscular forms, it was enough to interfere with their chance at attacking her fellow humans. Then she noticed one of the foreign soldiers aiming his weapon at her.

In a single moment, the specialist saw a streak of light approach her - shocked at being fired upon. Yet, the weapon was nothing like the firearms she was familiar with as she heard an electrical discharge instead of a gunfire. As the shot flew past her, Winter felt a stream of intense heat within this frozen wasteland.

A bestial grunt from behind was all that was needed to understand why this foreign soldier did that. Turning her head, a demon had taken the opportunity to pounce upon her and this very soldier had the gall to take the chance of accidentally hitting her. The shot revealed itself on the monster as the headshot appeared to have burned into its body. This was an impressive feat of accuracy and precision she had witnessed.

The soldier shouted towards her in his foreign tongue, hand gestures to accompany him. Winter didn't lose time acknowledging him as she ran towards him in quick succession. He fired away, covering her retreat from the open ground.

The duo retreated back into the building. Her time on the surface was quite an experience and vastly different from being in the wilderness of Remnant. Upon the corner of her eye, she saw three light flashes flickering in the distance, but the time for sight-seeing was over.

* * *

The accommodations by the Russians left quite an impression on General Ironwood. This recently-discovered facility could provide useful knowledge about this place if this different world truly existed or simply this place kept more mysterious information about an underground system that hadn't been affected by the Grimm. Loud footsteps clicked outside of the room as Specialist Schnee arrived at the doorway with her scroll in hand. "We've acquired enough information about this place, sir."

He reached his hand out. "May I see?"

She handed her scroll over, revealing pictures taken. His fingers swiped from one picture to another, but this gave a disconcerting implication of previous claims mentioned earlier. "The moon… it's intact."

"I was just as surprised as you were," The specialist replied. "One of our local guides was quite informative enough to tell me that this was a result of some global war. I don't know what kind of weapons they used here, but the city feels empty. This is something one might expect from Mountain Glenn."

The James nodded his head, taking in this new knowledge. "Once our rescue arrives, I have to bring this up with the Council. Everything that has happened here has changed and whatever diplomatic discussion needs to be kept secret."

Winter raised her eyebrows. "Why would you want to keep operation silence?"

"Did you notice who most of these people are? They're all human. If the faunus, rights activists, and the White Fang find out that we've discovered another world where there is only humans and no faunus, they might not view these people in a good light." He explained in great detail.

"So we're doing it for their sake? Understood, general. I suppose their lack of quality quarters and meals would make them at the mercy of terrorists."

Perhaps it was time to change to a different subject. "What did you find out there other than broken buildings and an intact moon? I heard a commotion that you and your guides were attacked."

"The locals refer to them as mutants. Apparently, they used to be animals, but some strange energy called radiation changed them into the monsters they are right now. Based on their reaction, it seemed like they were very difficult to kill on their end. Though, one of the Rangers seemed good enough to watch my back while I distracted them."

"They're nothing like the Grimm?"

She shook her head. "No, the Grimm don't bleed. Why do you ask?"

His hand was placed on his chin. "Colonel Miller told me something that seemed too dangerous to tell to most people. He said that Artyom fought these creatures called the Dark Ones. I don't know what they are and certainly don't know if they are Grimm or not."

"Do you want me to ask questions about the matter?"

"No, not now. Let's not ask too many questions while our hosts permit our company."

* * *

Author's Note: Alas, another chapter has been completed. Hopefully, the improvement is better than the previous chapter.

* * *

 **miraimp** : The previous iteration of the story just seemed weak for me as I was relying on the stations of canon from the _Metro 2033_ just to excuse interaction between Artyom and Winter. Aside from the fact that I found it boring to be using the stations of canon into the story, everything else in the previous story just seemed like filler with few actual meaningful chapters between characters save for the shock value near the end.


End file.
